LUCY Ahern and Kerry Lynch went back to one of the former schools this week to give a 'health lesson' to the young pupils.

Kerry and Lucy, both 18, of Carhampton, have produced a leaflet encouraging young people against smoking and they took it to Minehead Middle School.

The girls' leaflet, which folds out into a poster, is called 'Best of Friends but Worlds Apart' and it is packed with tips and statistics and there is also a quit plan.

It focuses on two girls, showing Kerry as a smoker and Lucy as one who prefers to spend her money on "different, more important, things".

Both girls are pictured smiling and looking confident and the front cover carries the question 'Which one smokes and which one doesn't?'.

The answer is inside where Lucy is pictured above a list of why young people do not smoke and Kerry's photograph accompanies a list of why they do.

Kerry's section explains that about 65 per cent of her friends smoke for reasons including:

l It helps them relax, concentrate and get going in the mornings.

l It's a free world, it looks cool and it helps get friends.

The leaflet says that Lucy's parents both smoke as do about half her friends, but she is not influenced by this because:

l It makes clothes, breath and hair smell.

l It stains teeth and sometimes fingers and nails yellow.

l She wants to keep her health and not to increase the chance of getting cancer.

Kerry and Lucy researched and designed the leaflet when they took part in a No Smoking Day project at Carhampton Youth Centre.

They did this in their own time and were supported by Carhampton youth worker Sheila Scott.

The main funding came from GASSA - Gloucester, Avon and Somerset Smoking Alliance - and it was a joint project between Somerset County Youth Service's young people's health education project and Somerset Health Authority.

The young people's health education project is funded by the county and district councils, the South West RDA and the Department for Education and Employment.

Pictured from the left are county youth service project worker Julie Husband, Lucy, Kerry, Minehead Middle School head Mike Turner and Sheila Scott.

Photo: Steve Guscott.